Global Gateway Alliance Calls for Firm Deadline on NextGen Completion

Avionics Today 09-26-2014] The Global Gateway Alliance, a nonprofit created in 2012 to address airport infrastructure challenges at the New York metropolitan area, is calling for the FAA to set on a hard deadline for NextGen completion. Global Gateway Alliance Chairman Joe Sitt and Executive Director Stephen Sigmund made a joint statement at the Greater Baltimore Committee Annual Transportation Summit stating that the public not only needs a clear account of the progress that has been made in establishing the state-of-the-art air traffic control system, but also a solid completion date.

The current completion date stands at 2025, with the FAA recently claiming that the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) mandate — in which operators will have to update from old radar technology to modernized satellite-based systems — will firmly take effect in 2020. But the notably troubled NextGen project has had some trouble getting off the ground, and there’s much speculation across all areas of air transport that it will be fully implemented by 2025.

“The FAA once promised 1 billion airline passengers by 2014 due to NextGen — that promise has now been pushed back to 2027. At the same time, incremental gains have been made, with benefits in capacity increases, noise reduction and environmental sustainability. The FAA should tell the public exactly where NextGen stands,” the statement said.